Universal testing gives more minority students access to gifted programs

Gifted minority students often go unnoticed

Public schools are increasingly filled with black and Hispanic students, but the children identified as “gifted” in those schools are overwhelmingly white and Asian.

Solution: Universal screening process tests students without regard to race

Universal screening of all students with a standardized process that does not rely on parent or teacher recommendation, using a non-verbal, culturally neutral assessment.

Broward County school system in Florida is one of the nations most culturally diverse schools systems in the United States, but ten years ago their gifted student program was 70% white or Asian. The school system implemented an universal screening process bypassing parent and teacher referrals. The test was a non-verbal, culturally neutral assessment . The results were : “The share of Hispanic children identified as gifted tripled, to 6 percent from 2 percent. The share of black children rose to 3 percent from 1 percent. For whites, the gain was more muted, to 8 percent from 6 percent.”